The crisis at Marino Institute of Education deepened last night after a report commissioned by the Christian Brothers-run college criticised the Department of Education and castigated what it calls a "concerted media campaign by vested interests".
The report from Farrell Grant Sparks (FGS) is robust in defending the Marino authorities - despite the decision by the Christian Brothers to settle a bullying case at a cost of some €500,000 last year.
The settlement was made in a case taken by Caoimhe Máirtín, the former head of Coláiste Mhuire teacher training college at Marino, Griffith Avenue, north Dublin, after she had alleged bullying, harassment and psychological damage.
The report finds no evidence to support any allegation of bullying by the authorities at Marino. On the contrary, it also appears to signal that the governing body at Marino should have been more robust in their defence of the allegations made against them. For reasons not explained, Ms Máirtín was not interviewed by the inquiry team.
In a controversial section, the FGS report is critical of what it sees as inappropriate intervention by the department, a criticism which is likely to draw a furious response from Minister for Education Mary Hanafin.
The department last night issued a statement rebutting the claim in the FGS report. It said department intervention was deemed necessary for a number of reasons including:
r the nature of allegations of financial impropriety at the institute;
r the level of public funding provided by the department to the institute;
r the need to give confidence and assurance to all students, current and future, that high quality teacher education would continue to be provided at the institute.
The department helped to establish new interim structures at Marino in the wake of Ms Máirtín's resignation. Pointedly, it says it became involved in the interim arrangements with the agreement of the trustees who, along with the institute's governing body, its management and staff, provided their full co-operation during the process.
The INTO is also accused in the report of giving misguided support to critics of the Marino institute. INTO general secretary John Carr said last night this was completely untrue. "The authors of this report had the chance to establish this at first hand by interviewing union representatives but failed to do so. It is not hard to see why the report lacks balance and objectivity."